ECONOMY
NZ interest rate cut to 2.75%
New Zealand’s central bank on Thursday reduced its benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point to 2.75 percent and indicated more cuts were likely. The 0.25 percent rate cut was the third quarter-point reduction in recent months and had been expected by most economists. Reserve Bank Governor Graeme Wheeler said the economy was growing at an annual rate of about 2 percent, down from about 4 percent last year. He said business and consumer confidence had weakened, while construction in Christchurch, which is rebuilding from a devastating 2011 earthquake, had reached a plateau.
CURRENCY
China reins in capital controls
China is tightening capital controls following a devaluation of its yuan, media reports said, as worries about financial outflows rise. The State Administration of Foreign Exchange had ordered financial institutions to increase checks and boost controls on foreign exchange transactions, especially over-invoicing of exports which is used to hide capital outflows, the Financial Times on Wednesday quoted unnamed sources and an internal memo as saying. “The main objective is to reduce volatility, curb capital outflows and limit depreciation pressure on the yuan,” DBS Bank’s Tommy Ong said.
ECONOMY
Brazil’s credit cut to junk
Standard & Poor’s cut Brazil’s sovereign credit rating to junk on Wednesday, citing the struggle by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff’s government to master growing debt and political turmoil. “We are lowering the long-term foreign and local currency ratings on Brazil to ‘BB+’ and ‘BBB-’ respectively,” the agency said in a statement. “The negative outlook reflects what we believe is a greater than one-in-three likelihood of a further downgrade due to a further deterioration of Brazil’s fiscal position,” the agency said.
EMPLOYMENT
Employment rate eases
Australian unemployment eased last month, official figures showed yesterday. The Australian Bureau of Statistics said the jobless rate dipped to 6.2 percent last month from 6.3 percent — matching expectations — thanks to a better-than-expected jump in new posts. The latest data showed the proportion of adults in work or looking for work, measured by the participation rate, softened to 65.0 percent from 65.1 percent in July, after surging in June.
ECONOMY
Swedish deflation deepens
Swedish deflation deepened last month, giving the central bank little respite in its struggle to revive price growth in the largest Nordic economy. Consumer prices fell an annual 0.2 percent last month, according to Statistics Sweden. They were seen declining 0.1 percent in a survey of analysts and 0.2 percent by the central bank. Excluding changes in interest costs, the annual rate fell to 0.8 percent from 0.9 percent in July.
ECONOMY
Turkey’s GDP expands
Turkey’s GDP expanded 3.8 percent in the April-to-June period, compared with a revised 2.5 percent in the previous quarter, the statistics agency said yesterday. That compared with a median estimate of 3.1 percent in a Bloomberg survey of 16 analysts. Seasonally adjusted output rose 1.3 percent from the previous quarter. Household demand, which makes up roughly two-thirds of GDP, grew 5.6 percent in the second quarter while public consumption expanded 7.2 percent, the agency said.
The Eurovision Song Contest has seen a surge in punter interest at the bookmakers, becoming a major betting event, experts said ahead of last night’s giant glamfest in Basel. “Eurovision has quietly become one of the biggest betting events of the year,” said Tomi Huttunen, senior manager of the Online Computer Finland (OCS) betting and casino platform. Betting sites have long been used to gauge which way voters might be leaning ahead of the world’s biggest televised live music event. However, bookmakers highlight a huge increase in engagement in recent years — and this year in particular. “We’ve already passed 2023’s total activity and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) today announced that his company has selected "Beitou Shilin" in Taipei for its new Taiwan office, called Nvidia Constellation, putting an end to months of speculation. Industry sources have said that the tech giant has been eyeing the Beitou Shilin Science Park as the site of its new overseas headquarters, and speculated that the new headquarters would be built on two plots of land designated as "T17" and "T18," which span 3.89 hectares in the park. "I think it's time for us to reveal one of the largest products we've ever built," Huang said near the
China yesterday announced anti-dumping duties as high as 74.9 percent on imports of polyoxymethylene (POM) copolymers, a type of engineering plastic, from Taiwan, the US, the EU and Japan. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s findings conclude a probe launched in May last year, shortly after the US sharply increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, computer chips and other imports. POM copolymers can partially replace metals such as copper and zinc, and have various applications, including in auto parts, electronics and medical equipment, the Chinese ministry has said. In January, it said initial investigations had determined that dumping was taking place, and implemented preliminary
Intel Corp yesterday reinforced its determination to strengthen its partnerships with Taiwan’s ecosystem partners including original-electronic-manufacturing (OEM) companies such as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電). “Tonight marks a new beginning. We renew our new partnership with Taiwan ecosystem,” Intel new chief executive officer Tan Lip-bu (陳立武) said at a dinner with representatives from the company’s local partners, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the US chip giant’s presence in Taiwan. Tan took the reins at Intel six weeks ago aiming to reform the chipmaker and revive its past glory. This is the first time Tan
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